Microlithography projection exposure apparatuses are commonly used to produce microstructured components via a photolithographic method. In such a method, a structure-bearing mask, the so-called reticle, is illuminated with the aid of a light source unit and an illumination optical unit and is imaged onto a photosensitive layer with the aid of a projection optical unit. The light source unit provides a radiation which is directed into the illumination optical unit. The illumination optical unit serves for making available at the location of the structure-bearing mask a uniform illumination with a predetermined angle-dependent intensity distribution. For this purpose, various suitable optical elements are provided within the illumination optical unit. The structure-bearing mask illuminated in this way is imaged onto a photosensitive layer with the aid of the projection optical unit. The minimum feature size which can be imaged with the aid of such a projection optical unit is determined, inter alia, by the wavelength of the radiation used. The smaller the wavelength of the radiation, the smaller the structures which can be imaged with the aid of the projection optical unit. Primarily imaging radiation having a wavelength in the region of 365 nm, 248 nm, 193 nm or imaging radiation in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range, i.e. in the range of 5 nm to 15 nm, is used in this case. When radiation having a wavelength in the region of 193 nm is used, both refractive optical elements and reflective optical elements are used within the illumination optical unit and the projection optical unit. By contrast, when imaging radiation having a wavelength in the range of 5 nm to 15 nm is used, exclusively reflective optical elements (mirrors) are generally used. A further possibility for reducing the minimum feature size which can be imaged with the aid of such a projection optical unit relates to the angle-dependent intensity distribution of the illumination at the object field being coordinated with the structure-bearing mask.